Guajome Park

Last Sunday, my dad and I went to Guajome Park. It was a fairly breezy day; cool in the morning and warmer later in the afternoon. It had rained recently, and everything was green and lush. It looked like a jungle. Below are four views along the trail.

When we first arrived, a man pointed out a Red-tailed Hawk nest high up in a eucalyptus tree. He said he had seen two chicks, and that they were probably a couple weeks old. It was hard to see, since it was so high up, but we did see the two chicks, and later on, we saw a parent on the nest. The chicks were small, gray, and fluffy. Below are two photos of the nest. In the first, only one chick is visible. In the second, a parent is standing on the nest, and the head of one chick can be seen to the left (the top of the second chick's head can also be seen behind the parent, though it's difficult to see; it just looks like a lump).

Red-tailed Hawk

Red-tailed Hawks

We also saw Mallard ducklings. They were slightly older, though still very fluffy. They were bathing in the water. There were quite a few Mallards looking for handouts, drinking, bathing, and sleeping on the grass. Below are two photos. the first is of the two ducklings, and the second is a female Mallard (not the mother).

Mallards

Mallard

There were a few American Coots, though not very many. Below are two photos. The first is a coot swimming toward some people who were handing out bread to the ducks. The second is a coot (possibly the same one) swimming away from the people with a big chunk of bread in its bill.

American Coot

American Coot

There were several Pied-billed Grebes on the lake. Most were in very nice spring plumage. There were also a couple of young, fluffy grebes with boldly striped faces and pink bills. Below are two photos, one of an adult Pied-billed Grebe, and the other of a young one that was drifting across the lake, asleep.

Pied-billed Grebe

Pied-billed Grebe

The were many swallows flying around above the lake and the fields. They were all Northern Rough-winged and Cliff Swallows. As they always seem to do, some of the Northern Rough-winged Swallows perched on the tops of bushes and trees. Below is a photo of one of them.

Northern Rough-winged Swallow

There weren't too many warblers around, but we saw a few here and there. We saw a couple of Yellow Warblers, but none stayed still long enough for a good photo. Below is a not-so-great photo of a male Yellow Warbler. It had nice, bold red streaks on its chest, though they can't really be seen in the photo. It blended in fairly well with the yellowish-green leaves.

Yellow Warbler

There were a few lizards here and there, jumping around in the bushes (they can jump pretty high). Below is a photo of a Western Fence-Lizard.

Western Fence-Lizard

Marsh Wrens don't often perch out in the open, but on Sunday we did see one sit still for a few seconds on top of the reeds. Marsh Wrens are found in the northern United States and southern Canada in the summer, and in the southern United States down through Central America in the winter. They are found year round in parts of the western United States and along the east coast. They are small and brown overall with lighter throats, white eyebrows, and streaks on their upper backs and tails. They are almost always found near water, and are more often heard than seen. Below is a Marsh Wren sitting atop the cattails.

Marsh Wren

There were a few Song Sparrows around, shuffling on the ground or singing in the bushes. Below is a Song Sparrow foraging in the middle of the path.

Song Sparrow

There were also quite a few hummingbirds around, mostly Anna's Hummingbirds. Below are two photos of male Anna's Hummingbirds.

Anna's Hummingbird

Anna's Hummingbird

There was a surprising number of Black-headed Grosbeaks. I don't think that we had seen them at Guajome before. We saw at least four of them, both males and females. They very bright and beautiful in their spring plumage. Below is a photo of a male grosbeak, showing its bright orange feathers and black and white tail.

Black-headed Grosbeak

We saw a couple of Say's Phoebes. The one below was hunting for insects on the ground amid a crowd of squirrels (the squirrels had moved when I took the photo, however).

Say's Phoebe

We saw a rather unusual sight at Guajome (well, we thought it was odd). We saw two birds perching right near each other in the bushes, and I thought they were both the same species at first (they were close to the same size and both looked dark from a distance). It turned out that one was a Cassin's Kingbird, and the other was a California Thrasher. I wouldn't have expected them to hang out so close together, but there they were. Below is a photo of the two (kingbird above, thrasher below).

Cassin's Kingbird and California Thrasher

There were a couple of flocks of Lesser Goldfinches foraging atop the trees. Below is a female.

Lesser Goldfinch

There were quite a few Spotted Towhees. I'm not sure that I've ever seen so many in one place. There always seemed to be at least one nearby, usually 'singing' at the top of a tree or bush. Their song is an odd buzzing trill. Below is a Spotted Towhee singing.

Spotted Towhee

There were a lot of Desert Cottontails at Guajome. There were groups of them grazing on grass, and some in the bushes. Below is one of them that was near the trail, but completely ignored us as it nibbled on a plant.

Desert Cottontail

As we were walking on the trail, I noticed something moving back and forth very quickly across the ground. It was a small (maybe half an inch to three-quarters of an inch), unusual looking bug; some sort of arachnid. It was digging a hole with its head, then gathering up the dirt and pushing it across the ground away from the hole. After some research, I discovered that it was a wind scorpion (I don't know what species; there are over a hundred in the United States). They aren't scorpions, but their own separate group. They aren't poisonous, but can bite. They're very quick, and are mostly nocturnal. I'm not sure why the one I saw was digging a hole; maybe it was trying to build a burrow. It was very interesting to watch. Below is a photo of the wind scorpion pushing dirt.

Wind Scorpion

There were a few Western Scrub-Jays around, but not very many. Below is one of them high up in a tree.

Western Scrub-Jay

As I said earlier in this post, there were a lot of California Ground-Squirrels. There were at least a few running around everywhere we walked. There were so many holes in the ground that a squirrel sitting anywhere seemed to only need to run a few feet before disappearing into the ground. Below are three photos of the squirrels.

California Ground Squirrel

California Ground Squirrel

California Ground Squirrels

Every time we go to Guajome, we always see Western Bluebirds in the trees or fields near the entrance to the park. However, we didn't see any this time until the very end, when we saw one flying between the trees. It finally stopped and sat on a branch, letting me take a photo. Below is the bluebird (a female).

Western Bluebird

Guajome Park

Yesterday my dad and I went to Guajome Park.  The sky was clear and it got pretty warm.  There were more people than usual there, but we still saw quite a few birds.

There were many, many northern shovelers there.  Many were in large, compact flocks out on the water.  Below is a male.

Northern Shoveler

I hadn't seen Canada geese at Guajome before (probably because there isn't a lot of open ground), but yesterday a flock of nine flew in and landed on the pond.  Canada geese summer in Canada and winter in the southern United States and Mexico.  They are around all year in most of the United States and parts of Canada.  Typically, they have dark necks and heads with white cheeks, gray bodies, and black tails.  However, the shade of gray, their size and the amount of white on their face can vary widely.  They're often found in open spaces such as flat marshes and golf courses.  There were many feral geese at the park as well, but the Canada stayed far apart from them, away from the shore.  Below are two photos of the Canada geese.

Canada Geese

Canada Geese

I don't think there were as many American coots as there were shovelers, but there were still a lot of them.  Below are two photos of coots.  There is also a shoveler at the top of the first photo.

American Coots and Northern Shoveler

American Coot

There were a few feral geese, as I mentioned before.  I believe they were domesticated greylag and swan geese.  (Greylag geese are brownish gray above and white below and are native to Europe.  Swan geese are brown above and white below with yellowish sides and a large lump on their foreheads and are native to Asia.)  Domesticated geese and ducks can almost always be told apart from native ones by their deep bellies.  I don't know if they are breeding or if people just keep releasing more, but no-one seems to be doing anything about them.  Below is a feral swan goose stretching its wings. 

Domesticated Swan Goose

The feral geese, coots, and ducks all hung around together near the shore, though the shovelers do not take hand-outs like the others (though bread shouldn't be given to any of them).  Below is a group of shovelers, coots, and geese.

Geese, Ducks, and Coots

There were also some great-tailed grackles looking for food (sometimes they'll join the waterfowl along the shore looking for bread).  Below is a female great-tailed grackle taking a bath.

Great-tailed Grackle

There were tons of common yellowthroats flitting about in the reeds and bushes.  Below is a male.

Common Yellowthroat

We saw one Townsend's warbler high up in a tree.  Townsend's warblers summer in western Canada, southern Alaska, and the northwestern United States.  They winter along the Pacific coast, southern Mexico, and Central America.  They have yellow faces with blacks caps, cheeks, and throats.  They have yellow chests and white bellies with black streaks on their sides.  Their backs are greenish-gray, and they have two white wing-bars.  Their boldly-marked faces are probably their most distinctive feature.  They are often found high up in coniferous trees, like the one below.

Townsend's Warbler

There were many beautiful views along the trails.  Below are a few of them.

We saw a couple of downy woodpeckers around.  Below are two photos of one of them.  The top photo shows it from the side (no spots on its sides; as opposed to a Nuttall's, which does have spots).  The bottom one shows its back and the large white patch (only downy and hairy have it).  There seem to be more downy woodpeckers at Guajome than Nuttall's, though I'm not sure why.

Downy Woodpecker

Downy Woodpecker

There was one greater roadrunner.  I think it was trying to startle some little animals to catch, because it was fluffing up its crest and tail as it hurried along.  Greater roadrunners are found year-round in the southwestern United States and Mexico.  They are large and streaked brown.  They are paler below and have a small crest.  They are often seen on the ground or on wooden posts or rocks.  They hunt lizards, snakes, small mammals and birds, and large insects.  They are related to cuckoos.  Below is a photo of the roadrunner.

Greater Roadrunner

There was a small group of killdeer running around on a hill.  There were about five of them and they were making little "ki" noises.  Below are photos of three of them.

Killdeer

Killdeer

There were a few butterflies flying around.  Below is a photo of a mourning cloak butterfly.  Two of them were fluttering around over the grass and seem to like landing on this tree stump.

Mourning Cloak Butterfly

One exciting bird for us was a red-breasted sapsucker.  Neither of us had seen one before.  Red-breasted sapsuckers summer along the western coast of Canada and winter in California.  In between along the coast, they are found year-round.  They have almost entirely red heads and chests (except for some white on their faces) and are yellowish below.  They have black and white backs and black wings with a bold white patch.  Sapsuckers, as their name suggests, eat sap.  They also eat insects and fruit like other woodpeckers.  Below are two photos of the sapsucker.  The top photo shows its back, wings, and some of its red head.  The bottom one (sorry, it's a bit blurry) shows its side and some of its head.

Red-breasted Sapsucker

Red-breasted Sapsucker